US District Judge Sean Cox accepted a $4.3 billion plea agreement reached in January between the automaker and the federal government that includes the fine. The Judge said the $2.8 billion criminal penalty was large enough, even though Volkwagen's offenses, spanning a decade, were intentional with the company selling more than 590,000 vehicles with diesel engines with emissions far above acceptable federal levels. ‘This is a case of deliberate, massive fraud perpetrated by VW management…and also involves a failure of the VW supervisory board, which is government, labor and shareholders,’ the Judge said.

Agreement

The $4.3 billion settlement was reached in January between Volkswagen and the US Justice Department. Lawyers for the U.S. Department of Justice argued a month ago that the $4.3 billion settlement was adequate even though it was only a fraction of the penalty U.S. law allowed. That penalty had a range of $17 billion to $34 billion.

Co-operation

US Attorney John Neal had previously made the point that the lower figure was appropriate as a result of the car manufacturer’s great level of cooperation with  government and speedy investigation after the US Environmental Protection Agency charged the automaker with wrongdoing back in September 2015. Volkswagen agreed to civil settlements worth about $17 billion for US consumers and dealers who own the automaker's diesel vehicles. 'Volkswagen deeply regrets the behavior that gave rise to this case,' general counsel Manfred Doess told the court, adding, 'Plain and simple, it was wrong'.

Monitor

Former US Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson was selected as the independent compliance monitor to make sure the automaker complies with federal regulators and the terms of criminal and civil settlements. ‘We look forward to working closely with Mr. Thompson as we press forward with the biggest change process in Volkswagen’s history,’ Hiltrud Werner, a Volkswagen board member who oversees legal affairs at Volkswagen it was reported in USA Today.